Lack of level: Deutsche Welle switches off comment function
Deutsche Welle, ARD's international broadcasting service, has disabled the comment feature on its website. Editor-in-Chief Ines Pohl explained that the decision was a difficult one.
"After all, we at Deutsche Welle are fighting for an open, critical exchange of different arguments, for freedom of the press worldwide." In recent times, however, the "predominant contributions have reached such a level that they no longer have anything to do with a constructive exchange of opinions." The discourse was characterized by personal abuse, insults and racist statements that have no place on the DW website.
Deutsche Welle is aware "that by switching off the comment function, we are annoying those users who have questioned the arguments of our commentators in a committed and lively manner", said Pohl. For this reason, the comment function will be opened up in individual articles in future in order to seek a targeted exchange. It will also be possible to comment on all DW articles posted on Facebook.
In Switzerland, for example, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung largely switched off the comments function in 2017. In this case, too, increasing insults and a lack of discussion were the reason for the decision not to include readers' opinions. "In many comments, information is no longer exchanged, but pontificated in absolutes that exclude others per se." explained the then Socia Media editor Oliver Fuchs made the move. (hae/SDA)
